Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Photo Credit: Kofi Outlaw from Screen Rant

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Ally Hottle, Journalist
September 22, 2011
Filed under Entertainment

In 1973, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark was an American made-for-television hit horror film that has been altered into a slightly different and more horrifying adventure for viewers that premiered on August 26.
The gruesome prologue of the movie sets stage in 1910 at an ancient gothic-like mansion owned by a deranged artist and biologist, Emerson Blackwood who claims goblin-like creatures have taken his son and will only return him in exchange for human teeth. The creatures hidden in the fireplace are displeased with his offer of teeth pulled from the mouth of himself and his maid, young Miss Winters. Blackwood, his son, and the creatures are forever sealed up in the basement of the mansion for centuries, until Alex Hurst (Guy Pearce) moves in.
Alex Hurst, along with his new interior designer girlfriend, Kim (Katie Holmes), have a mission to restore the mansion’s true beauty and make the front page of a magazine, but once Alex’s young daughter, Sally (Bailee Madison) comes to live with them, things start to become unreal.
Sally is strikingly rebellious against her father and his new girlfriend as they try to make her feel comfortable in a home and family she does not want to be in. Once she gets semi-settled in her new home, she becomes intrigued by the whispers she hears from the vents in the house calling out her name. Young Sally then begins to explore all around the property in search for what she thinks will be her new friends.
Soon enough, she stumbles upon a window underneath a bush in the garden and the handyman of the home, Mr. Harris finds her and tells her it is dangerous to be there. Alex and Kim however are fascinated with Sally’s findings and they uncover a hidden door sealed up by the previous owners after Blackwood’s disappearance. The door reveals a basement that will make the house worth more money than architect, Alex Hurst expected. Although to Sally, the basement is just an excuse to figure out where the whispers are coming from.
The night the basement is found, Sally takes it upon herself to investigate the voices who call out to her from the fireplace in the scary dungeon-like basement. The voices from the creatures tell her to turn out the lights and set them free so they can be friends and play together. When Sally decides to let curiosity get the best of her, she unleashes what seems like an unreal army of sharp-clawed, small goblin creatures that torment her and her family throughout their stay at the Blackwood mansion. As the creature’s attacks become more severe, Sally urgently tries to warn her father and Kim that the strange things happening around the house are not her trying to get attention, but the little basement goblins that are trying to capture them, but her efforts are hopeless against her hardheaded father.
Kim on the other hand realizes Sally’s sense of danger and tries to help her before its too late. Despite her father’s requests to stay in the house, Kim gathers their things and begins to prepare to leave, but the creatures have something else planned. Before they are able to leave, the creatures cut the power off in the house so they can roam wherever they want and have no restrictions due to the light. Alex, Kim, and Sally are now at the creature’s mercy and have to find a way out before their fate matches the Blackwood’s.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark was a great, suspenseful, end-of-the-summer movie, and probably the scariest of the season. Director Guillermo del Toro takes the viewers on a terrifying journey through the life of young Sally Hurst and he does a spectacular job doing so. He rounded the back story and deepened the plot to make it have a creepier effect. Even though the film is a remake, the plot is different and more horrifying.
The eerie atmosphere of the film is definitely the best aspect, but its gloomy acting kept this movie from being perfect. The only true gruesome part of the movie was the prologue, otherwise the film is strictly full of suspense. If you’re not interested in the jumpy suspenseful feel, this movie probably isn’t in your best interest to see. However, it will surely leave you asking yourself, am I really afraid of the dark?